Netanyahu offers Hamas amnesty if hostages are released
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would grant amnesty to Hamas if it releases the remaining hostages and is willing to leave Gaza.
Mr. Netanyahu has previously stated that completely crushing Hamas, including its leaders, was the only way to end the war in Gaza.
However, on Sunday, he appeared to confirm leaked details of a peace plan drawn up by United States President Donald Trump, stating that Hamas could receive immunity.
“If Hamas leaders, for example, are escorted out of the country, yeah, if they finish the war, release all the hostages, we’ll let them out,” he told Fox News.
“All of that, I think, is part of the plan. I’m not going to pre-empt it, because we’re having these discussions exactly right now.”
Plans leaked to Arab media on Sunday stated that Mr. Trump would be willing to give Hamas leaders safe passage out of Gaza if the 48 hostages being held in the Strip are released within 48 hours of Israel publicly accepting the deal.
In return, Israel would free several hundred Palestinian security prisoners serving life sentences and more than 1,000 Gazans arrested since the start of the war, along with the bodies of several hundred Palestinians, according to the Times of Israel’s read-out of the plan.
Hamas members who commit to “peaceful coexistence will be granted amnesty, while members who wish to leave the Strip will be granted safe passage to receiving countries,” the plan says.
Arab leaders have been furious over Israel’s relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 65,000 people and was deemed a genocide by the UN, and by its recent strikes on Qatar.
The strikes earlier this month, which Israel says were aimed at Hamas leaders living there, risk imperiling the US’s goal of normalizing relations between Arab countries and Israel.
Under Mr. Trump’s 21-point plan, Israel would agree not to carry out further strikes in Qatar, given the Arab country’s “important mediating role in the Gaza conflict.”
Addressing attacks on Qatar, Mr. Netanyahu told Fox: “These things, again, will be worked out because our goal was Hamas, not anything beyond it. I think we can work out an understanding on this.”
Mr. Netanyahu’s comments appear to be a departure from the fiery rhetoric he deployed after the attacks earlier this month.
“The strike didn’t fail because it had one central message, and we considered it before we launched it. That is, you can hide, you can run, but we’ll get you,” Mr. Netanyahu said during a press conference with US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, when asked about the attack in Doha.
“They think they enjoy immunity; they’ll do it again and again and again, and if you deny them that immunity, they’ll think twice,” he added.
The Trump peace plan also calls for Gaza to be de-radicalized and redeveloped for the benefit of its people, and for its residents to be allowed to stay in the enclave if they wish.
“No one will be forced to leave Gaza, but those who choose to leave will be allowed to return. Moreover, Gazans will be encouraged to remain in the Strip and offered an opportunity to build a better future there,” the plan states.
Israel will also agree to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) halting all operations and gradually withdrawing from the Strip, a step Mr. Netanyahu has also repeatedly opposed in the past two years.
Instead, his government had decided on a plan to occupy Gaza, which the plan directly contradicts, as it states that Israel will not “occupy or annex Gaza, and the IDF will gradually hand over territory it currently occupies, as the replacement security forces establish control and stability in the Strip.”
Should Israel and Hamas agree to the plan, it would also mean the terror group having no role in Gaza’s governance while the US would work with Arab and other international partners to “develop a temporary international stabilization force that will immediately deploy in Gaza to oversee security in the Strip.”
The force will also develop and train a Palestinian police force, which will serve as a “long-term internal security body.”
Proposal to create ‘pathway to statehood’
As for who will rule Gaza the day after the war, the plan states that the enclave will be administered by a “temporary, transitional government of Palestinian technocrats who will be responsible for providing day-to-day services for the people of the Strip.”
It is unclear if former British Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair’s plan is intertwined with Mr. Trump’s. Sir Tony’s plan, in which he would head a transitional body, reportedly has the backing of the US administration.
Mr. Trump’s plan also calls for the Palestinian Authority to be reformed, and proposes seeking “a credible pathway to Palestinian statehood, which is recognized as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.”
Mr. Netanyahu is due to meet Mr. Trump at the White House on Monday when the administration plans to present the plans to end the war.
Asked if he plans to declare support for the plan on Monday, Mr. Netanyahu told Fox News: “We’re working with President Trump’s team, actually, as we speak, and I hope we can make it a go because we want to free our hostages, we want to get rid of Hamas rule and have them disarmed, Gaza demilitarized, and a new future set up for Gazans and Israelis alike.”
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